Vocal Mechanics Archives - Mark JW Graham: Singing Lessons Nottingham

October 4, 2020January 21, 2024

Vocal Technique and Vocal Robustness

I regularly have conversations with clients and singers about vocal robustness, i.e. being able to sing for long periods, and for sustained touring schedules.

I’ve written numerous articles on the primary causes why people lose their voice on a regular basis, through overuse, misuse, and abuse. I’ve got a full listing of related articles at the footer of this article.

A lot of people see vocal robustness as something wholly separate to vocal technique. Robustness is somehow “just one of those things“, and technique is something separate, primarily determining range, tone, ability to riff, etc. However, they are not at all separate. Vocal robustness is inherently a by-product of good technique, and here’s why… Continue reading “Vocal Technique and Vocal Robustness”

June 21, 2020February 21, 2021

The Fallacy of Vocal “Tips and Tricks”

People looking for help with their voice regularly ask me “tips and tricks” so they can try to DIY fix a specific issue or to improve their voice. But here’s the money shot up-front:

Without having worked with someone’s voice, there are no tips or tricks one can give that can guarantee improvement

This is a key reason we can’t learn to sing from a book. There are of course helpful things that can be written down, and when a person is going through the process of training their voice, we can discuss more complex topics verbally/in the written word. But the specific set of technical issues that obstruct one singer are typically completely different from singer to singer. Trying to assess that via the written word or just on the say-so of the singer themselves is tantamount to impossible.

Let me give you some examples the kinds of emails I get looking for written advice to help their voice:

A: “I can reach high notes easily, but I sing high notes more chorally and I’m not able to belt them like in my chest voice. Are able to give me any tips as to how I might achieve this?”

B: “My range up high is good but my lower notes tend to get quite wispy and weak. Do you have any tricks I can use to solve this?

C: “My voice sounds OK down low but when I sing higher it sounds strained and often cracks. Can you tell me some quick fixes on how to solve this?”

These are all generalised variations on genuine requests I’ve received over the years. While I totally understand the desire ask for suggestions to fix one’s voice, the belief that one’s voice can be unlocked just by some string of magic words on a slip of paper/on a screen, is enormously unhelpful. Let’s explain why, starting with the problem of the diagnosis: Continue reading “The Fallacy of Vocal “Tips and Tricks””

January 11, 2020May 25, 2025

Shouting Masquerading As Singing: Reasons why so many singers are just yelling

DISCLAIMER: This article is not simply going to be another example of an old man yelling at a cloud.

It’s also not going to be a discussion around me staring into the middle distance and yearning for the “good ol’ days“.

But I will put it bluntly

There is an epidemic of shouting masquerading as singing, at least to my mind and my ear. And today I want to talk about why.

Over the years
To begin with, I’ve lost count of the number of events where every singer was just yelling their guts out. I’ve even seen singers step away from the microphone to show how loudly they can bellow their lyrics – it’s part of their performance piece. I’ve seen performers get gigs for not much more reason than they can belt notes louder than their peers. I’ve even been singing as part of a group, where when someone starts yelling their part, people think that equates to a more emotional performance.

What exactly is causing this? And what are the highest quality singers actually doing that sets them apart from some that might be accused of yelling?

Before we judge such singers too harshly…
… are there reasons behind why many resort to yelling? Are there tripwires that cause some singers to miss out on the path to higher quality?

I’m not for a second looking to justify or exonerate bad singing, but I also want to be clear that the voice has its complications. It would therefore be remiss to not discuss some of the physiological factors at play in this trend. Continue reading “Shouting Masquerading As Singing: Reasons why so many singers are just yelling”

December 28, 2019February 27, 2020

Learning to Riff: Why most people find it hard & why it can be easier than you think

I was having a conversation with a client recently about riffing: what it is, why it’s useful, and why it seems difficult to many.

For the ease of discussion let’s say that anything that extends the melody beyond the original for dramatic/musical effect is a ‘riff’, and that riffing is therefore the act of extending the melody in such a way.

I’d say that most singers want to get better at riffs/riffing, but that they find it hard to do. I’d also say that a lot of singers who think they are good at riffing are not as good as they think they are, and typically repeat the same old basic tricks over and over. But why is it hard to do? And could it be made easier?

The simple answer is yes, but there’s some important logic and understanding behind that answer. Let’s break it down. Continue reading “Learning to Riff: Why most people find it hard & why it can be easier than you think”

June 28, 2019February 27, 2020

Tongue Tension – a.k.a. Sounding like Kermit

For most people, singing (at first) tends to involve unnecessary tension. Sometimes this is extremely obvious, e.g. veins and tendons popping on their neck. Sometimes it’s moderately obvious, e.g. the vocal tone sounds strained. And sometimes it’s downright invisible.

Unnecessary tension

This typically occurs when *something* isn’t working quite right. This then means that other muscles that shouldn’t be involved in a particular function try to get involved and “assist” unnecessarily.

One of the most prevalent and frustrating sources of tension lies in tongue tension. Believe it or not, you’ve probably heard dozens of people sing with this kind of tension throughout the course of your life. Continue reading “Tongue Tension – a.k.a. Sounding like Kermit”

June 9, 2019August 30, 2020

The perks of being an older singer

A year or two ago I delivered one of my vocal technique workshops to a choir. During one of the vocal technique discussions someone raised a question regarding older singers’ voices. I’m paraphrasing for the purposes of this article, but the question was broadly seeking confirmation to the idea that:

“Do you find that voices change as they get older?”

Yes, they absolutely do. Voices change as they get older. I’ve written before on the various physiological changes that occur (vocally speaking) as one ages. The larynx turns to bone, it drops lower, muscles change and mature, etc. All of this can lead to extra depth and maturity in the voice. Continue reading “The perks of being an older singer”

June 2, 2019May 1, 2022

Why Breathing Isn’t Your Problem

The most common self-assessment I hear from people discussing their own voice and who want to improve their singing, by far, is:

“I think I’m doing a good job, I just need to work on my breathing“

Of course, other comments are common:
“I need to work on my tone”
“my vocal quality still needs work”
“I reach the high notes but it doesn’t sound that good”

But these are vastly outstripped (or accompanied) by self-assessments of “breathing issues“.

I understand why this comes up.

Many singers will typically think they sound alright, but notice that they run out of breath during specific lines, struggle to finish phrases, etc.

Typically, they feel like they’ve got full lungs of *something* but physically feel like they have to empty and refill before the next section of the song, etc. Breathing is critically important for singing, but I’ve got news for you: breathing probably isn’t your main problem. In fact, most singers’ breathing is typically fine, and the issue lies elsewhere. Continue reading “Why Breathing Isn’t Your Problem”

April 27, 2019September 13, 2020

What my practice routine looks like

One of the most common questions that comes up in sessions, workshops, etc, is “Mark, what does YOUR practice routine look like day to day?“. So that’s what we’ll cover today. This also extends to “what should anyone’s practice routine include day to day”.

The general answer works for most voices, but the specific exercises each voice should do will vary. I have updated this to reflect what my absolute up-to-date practice routine looks like.

Each section will start with what I specifically do for my voice, followed by what that translates to in a general sense. Continue reading “What my practice routine looks like”